The invention concerns a universal motor vehicle mudguard flap and clamp for attaching the flap to motor vehicles. The invention is particularly directed to mudguard flaps having a flap of flexible material which is provided with a main body flap and an adapter protrusion near the top thereof to align the flap with the contours of the vehicle chassis. The flap has an upper edge of the main body flap which is either curved or straight and joins with an inside edge of the adapter protrusion which, preferably, at least in the region of the inner edge of the adapter protrusion, is provided with a flat, bendable, sheet metal strip that serves as a reinforcement plate. More particularly, the invention is concerned with providing at least one fastening clamp for such mudguard flaps which engages the adapter protrusion and the chassis or fender of the vehicle.
In known mudguards of the present type, essentially one-piece, U-shaped clamps are used to connect the mudguards to the vehicle. Between the shanks of the U-shape, a mounting area is formed, i.e., between the base of the U-shape and the shanks thereof. The clamping effect is obtained by means of a bolt which is screwed through one shank and in the direction of the other shank so that between the end of the bolt and the other shank, the chassis or fender and the mudguard are connected. This type of fastening clamps results, in existing mudguards, in two fundamental disadvantages. On the one hand, it limits the opening of the mounting area, i.e., the area between the shanks and, on the other hand, it produces an unfavorable positioning of the bolt which causes the clamping effect.
The limitation placed on the opening of the mounting area, which is inherent in the one-piece U-shaped design, often results in the inability to mount the mudguard along the fender fold, e.g., the total thickness of the fender fold and the thickness of the mounting region of the flap exceeds that of the mounting opening of the clamp. This excessive thickness can stem from the presence of special fender reinforcements or from the addition of a layer of corrosion protection undercoating, sound proofing or similar matters.
It would be theoretically possible to design larger U-shaped clamps so that there is a sufficiently large mounting opening to accommodate even excessive thickness of the fender fold and flap, but, aside from the unaesthetic appearance, with modern shaped fender folds, larger clamps can result in clamp/tire contact. Since the bolt of the clamp must be brought into direct contact with the areas to be clamped, even the tightened bolt will protrude from the shank into which it is screwed. The degree of protrusion will depend, of course, on the total thickness of the areas to be clamped, as explained above. It will be appreciated that the bolt must be long enough to tighten against very thin thicknesses as well as larger thicknesses. The bolt will protrude in the direction of the adjacent tire and this can lead to a contact between the bolt and tire, especially in cases of vehicles with soft suspension. Thus, when the clamp is designed with a large opening, a longer bolt will be required and thus will give rise to an even greater danger of bolt/tire contact. This disadvantage can not be obviated by turning the clamp so as to bring the bolt behind the fender fold, since that would make the bolt almost inaccessible, assuming that there is any room at all behind the fender fold for the bolt.
Attempts have been made to avoid these difficulties by using fastening devices other than clamps. Typical of such devices is a bolt with a nut and two washers. The bolt passes through the adapter protrusion of the mudguard and continues through the main body of the flap and the bolt head rest against a washer that is placed on the flap. The bolt passes through the second washer, which grips behind the fender fold, and the nut, when screwed on the bolt, is pressed against the fender fold. The resulting clamping effect holds the mudguard flap against the fender fold. However, in the this arrangement bolt holes must be made in both the mudguard and the fender fold. Frequently, however, this assembly lacks sufficient rigidity, especially when the fender fold has additional layers of material or has been reinforced, since there is a pronounced tilting of the washer which engages the fender fold from behind, and this results in an inadequate clamping effect.